09+ corolla, lower epa than earlier corollas, why?

[dizwiz24]

I love the corolla. I am trying to figure out why toyota, with increasing prices at the pump, decided to redesign corolla with worse gas mileage than previous models.

Whats causing this? Increased weights (I see weight went up)? A different less-fuel efficient engine? What gives.

If I go to fueleconomy.gov - I see the following epa (corrected to '07 fuel economy tests) numbers.

2001 Corolla, 5spd man - 125 horsepower, 2410 lbs
27 city 37 highway

2005 Corolla, 5 spd man: -130 horsepower, 2530 lbs
28 city 37 highway

2010 Corolla, 5spd man: - 132 horsepower, 2723 lbs
26 city 35 highway

I thought technology moved forwards, not backwards. The earlier models still have creature comfort stuff like ABS, etc. Although the 8gen had crappy cupholders.
I cant imagine a bunch of toyota engineers sitting around saying 'lets make the new corolla get worse gas mileage than the old model'....

[IceXRS]

The EPA changed the rating system in.... I think it was 2007. So the American fuel economy figures changed somewhat drastically downwards for almost all vehicles. This test is more representative of normal real world driving than the previous test which had more ideal ratings.

In a test of similarly classed vehicles the 1.8L Corolla did manage to go further on one tank of gas than any of the other cars in the bunch so it is at the top of the game right now.

[jdhog]

Just a thought maybe some of that extra weight goes into reducing emmissions and safety, even though it might drink a tiny bit more it is cleaner adn safer. So the engineers prob scratching their heads to keep the weight down, and mpg up while having to conform to stricter guidlines.

Having said that, my initinal response was just going to be, it's because they didn't fiddle the numbers as well this time.

[wylee]

The car got bigger and heavier.

Bigger = more power to maintain highway speeds do to increased drag
Heavier = more power to get moving

The size increase will likely sell more cars than another 2 or 3 mpg would.

[bb147]

I just got my car and I am getting about 35.28 MPG (6.6/100L) with driving in the city (mostly highways though).

Very impressive in my opinion, I had no idea this car was THAT good on gas!

I'm personally impressed, but my last Corolla was a 2001 and I didn't really figure out the MPG on that, it definitely wasn't as good as the new one, I had to fill up much more often, I wonder why, because according to your info it should be better.

[thestone11]

this gen of the corolla is bigger than the older version

[pwain]

Originally Posted by dizwiz24

I cant imagine a bunch of toyota engineers sitting around saying 'lets make the new corolla get worse gas mileage than the old model'....

No, but marketing did say "lets move the Corolla up market out of Yaris segments, while staying out of Prius territory." IMO the safety advances and cosmetic changes are worth 2 MPG.

an 01 Corolla and 10 Corolla are too different, you better off comparing it to the 10 Yaris.

However, my 2009 Corolla has a lifetime (41,000mi) average of 38.5 MPG...

[IceXRS]

Alright if you go on http://www.fueleconomy.gov (particularly useful for Americans but even I used it as a Canadian) then you can do a side by side comparison between a 2008 Corolla and a 2009 or 2009.

When I did it (all 1.8L all 4 speed automatics) the following was true:

2008 Corolla (1.8L and 4 speed auto)
- Combined: 29 MPG
- City: 26 MPG
- Highway: 35 MPG

2010 Corolla (1.8L and 4 speed auto)
- Combined: 29 MPG
- City: 26 MPG
- Highway: 34 MPG

So for a 1 MPG difference on the highway and virtually no other differences the current gen of Corolla is better equipped, much better looking, safer, and gets basically the same fuel economy.

Again... don't compare versus the old EPA fuel economy test numbers... the old ones are inflated because of old testing standards.

[wylee]

^That's what the op did, he just used the 5 speed instead of the auto. Manual transmission cars generally get more MPG than auto transmission cars.

[wth]

The '09's are 2.4" wider than the '08's, and gained about 125-150 lbs.

[lincolnskilz]

Extra weight, airbags, bigger body in general, bigger engine displacment. Its like what the US is always talked about, big house, big cars, big everything.

[PhatRoyale]

Even my old 1997 7th gen throws out numbers that are comparable to those.

Old EPA estimates:
27 City 34 Highway.

[buddy97]

Originally Posted by PhatRoyale

Even my old 1997 7th gen throws out numbers that are comparable to those.

Old EPA estimates:
27 City 34 Highway.

but adjusted using the new testing methods the 1997 corolla auto is 23/31 vs the 26/34 for the current automatic which is considerably larger, heavier, and safer.

[PhatRoyale]

Originally Posted by buddy97

but adjusted using the new testing methods the 1997 corolla auto is 23/31 vs the 26/34 for the current automatic which is considerably larger, heavier, and safer.

Makes no difference to me since I consistently meet and even beat the old EPA ratings.

My best tank ever was a little over 42mpg. I take the ratings with a grain of salt. It all comes down to your driving style.

And yes, I'm aware of the new testing methodology used by the EPA.

[buddy97]

Originally Posted by PhatRoyale

Makes no difference to me since I consistently meet and even beat the old EPA ratings.

My best tank ever was a little over 42mpg. I take the ratings with a grain of salt. It all comes down to your driving style.

And yes, I'm aware of the new testing methodology used by the EPA.

many of us beat epa ratings, so it is all relaitive. im not sure they could have squeezed much more mpg's out of a 2700+ lb corolla. my 1 year average is now 40.21 mpg, which is mostly light suburban/highway driving, so i still beat the more stringent epa numbers by over 5 mpg's.

personally, i liked the old epa numbers. i found them closer to what one could achieve with a reasonable driving style.